Freddie Wilson, Tavon Allen teamed up at Drexel like they did at Hillhouse

Published 2:10 pm, Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Photo: Photo Courtesy Of Drexel Athletics

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Former Hillhouse star Freddie Wilson just wrapped up his collegiate career with Drexel.

Former Hillhouse star Freddie Wilson just wrapped up his collegiate career with Drexel.

Photo: Photo Courtesy Of Drexel Athletics

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Former Hillhouse star Tavon Allen has one season left at Drexel.

Former Hillhouse star Tavon Allen has one season left at Drexel.

Photo: Photo Courtesy Of Drexel Athletics

Freddie Wilson, Tavon Allen teamed up at Drexel like they did at Hillhouse

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Freddie Wilson’s college basketball career was filled with ups and downs, a transfer, some time spent in a coach’s doghouse and sporadic playing time.

But his final three games for Drexel University about a month ago were like a trip back in time to his days as a star guard at Hillhouse and for the Connecticut Basketball Club AAU program. And they were three of the best games of his career.

Wilson was back in the starting lineup for the first time since early in the season and was teamed in the backcourt with fellow New Haven product Tavon Allen, his running mate from the Hillhouse/CBC days.

“It was just like the old days,” said Wilson, a 6-foot-2 guard. “I always felt that bond with him. I know how to get him going, and I’m pretty sure he knows what to say to get me going.”

Never was that more evident than in the Dragons’ final regular-season game on Feb. 28, on the road at William & Mary. Wilson started off on fire, hitting his first three shots before a timeout.

“He was telling me I was doing good, keep it up,” Wilson said of Allen. “I told him to join me.”

Sure enough, Allen, a 6-7 guard, went out and hit his next three shots.

“That when I knew it was gonna be a good game,” Wilson said.

Indeed, with both players pressed into 40 minutes of action due to a slew of injuries, Drexel rolled to an 80-66 triumph behind a career-high 24 points from Wilson and a season-best 22 from Allen.

About a week later, Wilson’s career was over when Drexel lost to College of Charleston in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. In his final three games (all starts), Wilson averaged 17.6 points, lifting his season average from 4.0 to 5.3, and played all 120 minutes.

He listed those final three games as the highlight of his collegiate career.

Allen, a junior, has one more season. After starting 27 of the 29 games he played this season, averaging 11.2 points per game, he’ll be the Dragons’ top returning scorer now that fifth-year senior Damion Lee (21.4 ppg) has opted to transfer.

Still, Allen (who averaged 11.7 ppg as a sophomore) believes his season could have been better.

“Decision making, taking better shots, making more shots,” Allen said of his deficiencies. “Sometimes I probably forced things too early in the shot clock, trying to do too much.”

There were two areas he feels he improved on quite a bit. One was free throw shooting, where he boosted his average to 80 percent, up from 65.4 percent as a sophomore.

“I got to the free throw line a lot more than I did last year,” he said. “That was a good step for me.”

The other area of improvement?

“I had a lot more dunks this year,” he said, with a chuckle. “That was one of my goals.”

None were better than the one he threw down over UNC-Wilmington 7-footer C.J. Gettys.

Wilson and Allen played together for three years at Hillhouse, as well as with the CBC program with guys like Andre Drummond and Kris Dunn. After graduating Hillhouse, Allen, a year older than Wilson, played at Worcester Academy for a year before heading to Drexel, the Philadelphia-based school coached by Bruiser Flint.

Wilson went straight from Hillhouse to Seton Hall, but lasted less than two seasons with the Pirates. He played in 40 games but was never able to gain consistent minutes. He was also suspended for two games as a sophomore by head coach Kevin Willard.

Just before the start of the 2012-13 Big East season, Wilson announced he was transferring.

“Tavon texted me the next day,” Wilson recalled. “‘What up, bro?’ were his exact words. Drexel was recruiting me before Seton Hall, so it was kind of easy to come over here.”

Added Allen: “He hit me up just to see how the school was. I told him it was cool, a good place to be. He came on a visit, we chilled, he liked the vibe and decided to come.”

Wilson wasn’t eligible to play until Dec. 15 of the 2013-14 season and wound up averaging 2.6 points per game in limited playing time.

Allen currently has 843 career points, and his goal is to top 1,000 next year and improve on Drexel’s 11-19 record. For Wilson, professional basketball could be up next — he said he was recently drafted in the second round of the Puerto Rico pro league (his mom was born in Puerto Rico) and he’ll likely pursue that opportunity after graduating in May with a communications degree.

Perhaps it wasn’t the star-studded collegiate career Wilson envisioned as a star at Hillhouse. But he’ll always have those final three games, alongside his New Haven buddy Tavon Allen in the backcourt.